But the way he continues to swing the bat — showing a mix of patience and power — has been encouraging, to say the least.

On Saturday, Ramirez walked twice against the Twins' Carl Pavano before ripping a 2-2 pitch over the left-field wall for his third home run of the spring and second in Grapefruit League action.

The two-run blast with two outs in the fifth inning gave the Marlins a brief one-run lead against Minnesota, which rallied with three runs off Elih Villanueva in the ninth to pull out a 5-2 win in a split-squad game at Roger Dean Stadium.

Ramirez is now hitting a team-leading .473 (9 for 19) with four RBI, four walks and three strikeouts in eight games this spring.

"He had a rough last year, dealt with injuries and stuff. But everybody knows how good he is," said Ricky Nolasco, who started for the Marlins and gave up one earned run over five innings. "He was one of the best players in the league for five years.